Chapter 16
#16
“This is……”
My voice trembled slightly.
A multitude of people jostled each other, moving shoulder to shoulder.
Shouts rang out from here and there, and loud noises erupted intermittently.
“Ricardo?”
I gripped Lara’s hand, who was standing next to me, even tighter, and with my other hand, I grabbed Ricardo’s arm on the opposite side.
I could feel his firm arm through the thin shirt.
To be honest, it was reassuring.
“Is there… a war going on, all of a sudden?”
If Ricardo said yes, I was ready to scoop up Lara and run. The place where we parked the carriage wasn’t far from here.
I would immediately get the children into the carriage, head to Crophort Manor, and take refuge in the underground shelter built in preparation for war.
Then, I would mobilize the family's Military personnel to fulfill my duty as a high-ranking aristocrat of the Splendor Empire…….
“Bianca.”
While I was deciding on my course of action, Ricardo quietly called my name.
“This is just a festival.”
He smiled gently, as if nothing was wrong.
“Just a festival?”
Doubting Ricardo’s words, I looked at the scene before me again.
An insane number of people were crowded in front of me, and to move forward, I would have to rub against at least two people, and I would probably have to step on five people’s feet to walk ten steps.
Someone was screaming in the distance, a sound like a shriek came from one side, and someone else was crying on another side.
This pandemonium was a festival?
The festivals I had read about in books involved music, everyone was having fun, and it was exciting.
There was no mention of such a chaotic mess!
“Calm down, Bianca.”
Ricardo placed his hand on my shoulder, perhaps sensing my bewilderment.
But I didn’t want Ricardo to know that I was confused.
“I’m always calm.”
“Of course, you are.”
“I’ve seen it all in books. It’s just that it’s more than I expected… what should I say……”
I looked ahead again to find the right expression.
Good heavens, are those really all people?
“There are fewer people now.”
“This is fewer?”
“There are more people at night. The night market is more spectacular during the festival.”
Ricardo shrugged as if it were obvious.
There were even more people than this? How many could there possibly be?
I swear, the only time I had seen so many people was at Ricardo’s send-off ceremony.
But it seemed to me that there were even more people now than at the send-off ceremony. So, the only thing that came to my mind was war.
“Well, shall we go take a look around?”
“Yay!”
“Hooray!”
The children around us shouted with joy at Ricardo’s words.
“Princess, let’s go!”
Lara, also excited, grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
“Y-yes.”
There was no choice. I was the one who suggested we come together.
I steeled myself and stepped into the crowd.
At first, I almost bumped into a man coming from the opposite direction. But I quickly twisted my upper body slightly to the side and narrowly avoided him.
Then, a woman passing by quickly came to my side, twisted her body sideways as if sliding, stood in front of me, and then straightened up again.
People were slightly touching each other, as if they had applied slippery oil, but they never actually collided.
No one fell or was pushed back.
“How fascinating.”
Everyone was heading in their own direction with their own flow.
Only then did the voices I had heard earlier sound a little different.
“Kyaa! I won, I won!”
What I thought was a scream was a woman’s cheer.
“Buy it! Buy it! Get candy that melts in your mouth!”
“Fun games! Exciting games! If you get all five right here, you’ll get a wonderful prize!”
What I thought was a harsh shout was a merchant’s solicitation.
As the sounds, which I had thought were like the midst of war, changed, the scenery also looked different.
It felt vibrant and lively.
People’s faces looked happy, and everyone was smiling.
“Princess, it’s a doll!”
Lara, who was twirling and looking at me, also had a big smile on her face.
“Do you want a doll?”
“Yes!”
“Okay, I’ll buy it for you!”
Our Lara wants it, so what’s a doll to me?
I nodded readily.
“No, Bianca, I don’t think that’s something you can handle?”
For a moment, I thought I had misheard something.
“Handle? Are you saying that I can’t handle it?”
What was so special about a doll that you would use the word ‘handle’ to describe the young lady of the Crophort Marquess family?
Was it a ceramic doll made by a master craftsman? Or did it have jewels on its eyes, nose, and mouth?
“How amazing is this doll that you dare say I can’t handle it?”
“No, the doll isn’t amazing.”
“Are you saying that I can’t handle a doll that isn’t amazing?”
“That’s not it……”
Instead of speaking, Ricardo subtly pointed to the words next to the doll with his finger.
<Catching Rats with Bare Hands>
“……”
I quietly read the words again.
<Catching Rats with Bare Hands>
“……”
I read the words one more time.
<Catching Rats with Bare Hands>
Even after reading it a third time, the words remained the same.
“There are rats released in that box, and you have to put your hand in, grope around, and catch the rat. You have to catch three rats to get the doll.”
“Why?”
“What?”
“Why do you have to… catch them with your hands?”
I couldn’t even bring myself to say the word.
“That’s just how the game is.”
“That’s a ridiculous game.”
I shuddered and spat out the words.
“We also have a game for ladies who don’t like rats.”
A man who seemed to be the owner approached us and pointed to something next to it with a smile.
<Catching Goldfish with Bare Hands>
“Why are you catching goldfish again?”
I couldn’t understand this either, so I frowned and looked at the owner.
“Because it’s fun?”
What’s so fun about this? I couldn’t understand it at all.
“Doll……”
Lara, with her thumb in her mouth, stared blankly at the doll she had mentioned earlier.
It was a stuffed doll with hair made of yellow yarn and a yellow crown on its head.
“Okay. Then, who is the brave knight who will catch rats for our cute youngest one?”
Ricardo took out a coin from his pocket and said, and surprisingly, several boys raised their hands.
Ricardo fairly made the children play rock-paper-scissors, and the winning child stood in front of the box with a very determined expression.
“Okay, you have one minute.”
The owner said, placing a clock in front of him.
“Start!”
With the owner’s voice, the child put his hand in.
And after a while.
“Kuaaa!”
“Kyaa!”
“Uwak!”
The child screamed, startled by something touching his hand, and we all screamed together.
“Again! Again!”
“Robin, doll!”
“Do your best, Robin!”
“You can do it!”
As cheers rang out from here and there, the child put his hand in the box again with a determined face.
“I caught it!”
“Kyaa! It’s a rat!”
“Kyahaha! There really was a rat!”
“Good job, Robin!”
“Oh my!”
As Robin lifted up a rat with a cheerful voice, the children shouted and cheered together.
“Two!”
After putting the first rat in the box that the owner gave him, Robin easily caught the second rat.
It seemed that the first time was the most difficult.
“Okay! 10 seconds left!”
“10 seconds left, Robin!”
“Hurry! Hurry!”
“Robin, fighting!”
“Ugh! Where is it!”
Perhaps because he was in a hurry, Robin put almost his entire shoulder into the box, and we were all hoping that he would find the rat.
That’s right. It was us.
I, too, was clenching my fists and praying that Robin would catch the rat.
“Three! Two! One! Time…….”
“I caught it!”
It was the moment the owner was about to shout ‘time’. Robin caught the third rat.
“Uwaaaaa!”
“Robin did it!”
“He caught the rat!”
The children surrounded Robin and jumped up and down as if he had done something amazing. Robin also had a proud expression on his face, as if he had done something amazing.
“Here’s the prize!”
The owner brought the doll that was placed over there.
The doll didn’t look very pretty or luxurious up close.
The eyes were a bit crooked, and the fabric looked cheap.
“Wow, it’s a princess doll!”
But Lara liked it.
The child smiled brightly, accepted the doll, and held it very preciously to her chest.
“She really likes it.”
I muttered without realizing it.
Looking at Lara, who was smiling innocently, made me smile as well.
“Indeed.”
Ricardo’s voice next to me was also full of laughter.
“Actually, I knew the children would like it. What’s more surprising is you.”
“Me?”
When I turned my head to look at Ricardo, he was still smiling.
Very gently, as if he was very pleased.
“I didn’t think you would fit in with this kind of market. But seeing you enjoying yourself, it seems I was wrong again.”
Even as he said he was wrong, Ricardo didn’t seem to regret it at all.
Rather, he seemed to be even more pleased that he was wrong.
“Ricardo, I’m thirsty!”
“Buy us juice!”
“Okay! I’m choosing.”
Hearing Ricardo’s words, the children rushed to the juice store next to us, very excited.
“Shall we go?”
Ricardo held out his hand.
I felt strange for some reason.
He had held out his hand to me countless times over the past 10 years.
At balls, for escorts, to help me up when I was sitting.
There were countless reasons, and there were countless situations.
But unlike those countless times, it felt like a completely different situation, and my heart fluttered strangely.
It was even more so the moment I gently placed my hand on his.
Perhaps it was because it was the day when Saint George's Magic, the Saint of lovers, occurred.
That’s why my heart was pounding for no reason, fluttering for no reason, and constantly excited.
